How do women differ from men in their reactions to alcohol?
• A woman and a man may drink exactly the same amount of alcohol, for exactly the same time period, and the woman may have a 25 to 30 percent higher blood alcohol concentration level. This is because women are usually smaller than men and have higher concentrations of body fat. Women also have less stomach enzyme than men, meaning they digest alcohol more slowly. This makes women more vulnerable than men to the risks associated with high BAL’s. • Oral contraceptives (birth control pills) can slow down the rate at which alcohol is eliminated from the body. A woman on the pill can expect to feel the sedating effects of alcohol longer than a women who is not on birth control pills. • The negative health effects of drinking alcohol are greater for women than men. Women who drink are at significantly greater risk for liver damage than are men. As has been noted by researchers at Duke University Medical School, this is true even if they drink less alcohol or for a shorter period of time. • W
